i like the idea of different there's and elsewheres
by appleschan
Summary: a girl following a story.
1. Chapter 1

i like the idea of different there's and elsewheres

by appleschan

i.

In the Japanese romance literature section of the National Diet Library, there is an old, surviving copy of a short love story that sits on the top row of the section's sixth bookshelf.

-the book was only checked-out for a total 112 times since the library opened in 1948. It is probably the only copy.

-the story itself is little-known, incomplete, and unhappy.

But on June 1, 2016, after a reporter broke a story relating to the book's origin citing an old clan and commissioned research findings, close to ten thousand people signed the waitlist for the book that afternoon. It crashed the library's online booking system.

The institution's administrators opted to send the digitized copies instead to avoid straining the public's convenience.

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Inoue Orihime, who knew of the story since her teen years but never read the actual book, received her digital copy at three in the afternoon of June 2, a day after she signed the waiting list. Below the deeply apologetic yet thankful note of the library administrator was the 19 MB, PDF file attachment.

The file thumbnail, the story within it, was unceremoniously titled the Lady and the War General.

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ii.

2018

The news is…the news is…the news has been very romantic these days, Inoue Orihime thinks absently, glancing at today's headlines from an older man's newspaper across her.

The morning rush hour has passed uneventfully at the Hongo subway train station; there's none much people and Orihime is on her way to her classes in Bunkyo.

She briefly scans the paper front page for something familiar to her, like a new red bean seed specie, or a NASA landing on a new space rock or circumvention, or an update to an old love story.

Of course, Orihime knows, there is nothing romantic about uncertain economies or leaving trade blocs or worldwide outbreaks or societal divide or rocket threats -

But from time to time, there is some bit about a man, some mighty, mighty man the news make out to be. He lived many centuries ago but stories about him remained. In his time, the news and books and stories remarked he was deathproof, as if death himself avoided him for as long as it could. And he was handsome, too, very young but already a commanding leader. Orihime likes hearing about him – he is the stuff of her daydreams.

But there is something about a woman, too, they call her Lady and she was very pretty and capable and a high born - it's good to know someone like her truly existed. The stories say she was all snow, lived on snow - depending on the storyteller if they liked to be fantastical about it, but she was strong and brave and was deeply enduring. The Lady, too, lived centuries and centuries ago. Orihime likes hearing about her – she is someone to admire.

She, like everyone else, is familiar with the story of the Lady and War General.

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iii

It isn't so often that a 300-year old, romantic, scandalous, and potentially history-altering gossip between a noble and warlord is brought out and publicly discussed and debated.

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iv.

But real life does not allow for fantastical day dreaming for too long. Orihime, after all, is still a student, has classes and presentations and thesis and a scholarship to maintain; has a part-time job at a bakery and has bills to pay, and is still somewhat 22 but has to be 30 sometimes.

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a/n: the longest, previously unreleased story draft i made. though incomplete, i thought i'll release it now.


	2. Chapter 2

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v.

Initially thought to be a lore, the Lady and the War General's story did not receive serious, public attention until the discovery of 23-page journal strongly believed to be penned by the Lady herself.

Those that survived were sparse and untraceable, many were mentions within history books, on side notes; on references at the margin of school textbooks; old folk songs; poetry collections.

The National Historic Commission subjected the 23-page journal to a radiocarbon test to determine its age.

(L., A. Martina. "The Lady and the War General." Japanese History's Secret Scandals. 2017. 95-96. Print.)

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	3. Chapter 3

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vi.

Orihime reserves the Lady and the War General a kind of quiet admiration, as one would to a fairy tale, or to an older couple who had been together for 70 years, something like that.

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It's only been a year when the headline read: Ishida clan hands over 300-year old katana to gov't: the War General's! spread across daily broadsheets and online feeds - that was the start of it.

Before that, the Lady and the War General were grouped with other old folklorish tales, lesser known compared to Japanese literary giants like The Tales of Genji or The Tales of Ise. They belong to those tales that occupy the bottom shelf - not very prominent, some passing maybe-not fiction.

And Orihime, of course, had read much about them.

Orihime watched when the current head of the Ishida clan, now a family with extensive local and international medical and pharmaceutical ties, turned over the centuries-old katana to a government official, and affirmed the Lady and the War General's place in history, gave their real names, too. There were low respectful bows and all - was news.

It was true, letters and a sword, the Lady and the War General were real. Orihime felt a thug in heart then - they were real.

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	4. Chapter 4

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vii

The news should have been a one-time distraction for the masses, and it worked well - some obscure 300-year old romantic lore on the cusps of reality, and that a legendary clan had been involved - the Kurosakis, who, as the Ishida clan put it, ran combat in their veins before blood.

That should have been enough to fuel high-schoolers' imagination for years - some military man wooing a noble princess under forbidden circumstances, many write stories about that, many conceived drama television shows about that - crossed-stars, impossible, and it's destiny at the end.

A second meltdown happened one morning - just a month after the katana was handed over - while Orihime was busy watering her kitchen herb plants. A scan was performed on the katana.

It turned out, the Kurosaki War General left a letter for the Lady, hidden within the hilt of the katana, with a clumsily handwritten but otherwise directive note that says the letter is meant to be 'only for her.'

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that's ridiculous! guy is dead for centuries! #OpenTheLetter so we'll have inspiration for a tv series or a manga! – Hayashi Koharu KokoroDokiDoki (ドキドキ)

MyKokoroGoesDokiDoki no it's a matter of respect not your entertainment. #DontOpenTheLetter – Yui Polishenko YuiPolko

Twitter. December 2018. Web.

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	5. Chapter 5

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viii

Late in February, with the winter subsiding but still cold enough to warrant scarves and coat, Orihime meets a boy.

Orihime happens to be hurrying along, out to get some cucumbers and natto and pickled peanuts - she heard from a neighbor the light rain yesterday made the cucumbers crisp, she thought it would compliment her kani and abalone and mango salad. On her way, she passes by her old middle school, competing harajuku-themed bubble tea shops trying to outdo each other, the Edo museum-

In it - Orihime chances upon a boy: a bespectacled, tall lanky boy standing and facing the the escalator of the museum. He wears a peacoat the color of severe black, just like his hair, and leather shoes, and pants.

She stops by her side of sidewalk stretch while looking over at the boy for a bit.

She thinks it's a curious thing to be visiting the museum this early - she glances at her phone's digital clock - some seconds past 6:40 am. But Orihime resumes her walking, for all her curiosity, has no business going over there.

"Umm, do you-" she says tentatively, falling to a step beside the boy, meaning to ask if he needs help, if he forgot something inside overnight. Orihime knows the museum caretaker after all, she could help.

The boy glances her way; he has blue eyes. (and his face is as pale and pallid as a plain dough)

"Good morning," the boy says coolly and softly, turning to her and uttering a short, polite bow.

Orihime only remembers then to bow as well, "oh! sorry!"

But there's something about the way the boy's shoulders align together, very straight, almost like a robot. He cuts well-heeled, too, and by his polite tone - very practiced in its low, cool finesse, he must have come from old money.

"Do you need help?" Orihime asks, tempering her cheery tone to that of inquisitively helpful, offering a slight smile and taking a tentative step towards him. "Do you need something?I-I happen to know the caretaker if you left something overnight, is that it? Did you leave something overnight…?"

The boy considers, "oh no, miss…?"

"Inoue Orihime," she says, smiling.

"Ah, I am Ishida Uryuu," he says, before bowing again, "I am pleased to meet you."

Orihime thinks the boy is too awfully polite and - "wait! Are you an Ishida? As in the Ishida clan? the one on TV?!"

Orihime is surprised. There are big clans with vast genealogy all the way from 500 years ago: Takeda, Tachibana, and Fujiwara, but not everyone she meets with the same last name identifies with the actual Takeda clan, or Tachibana clan, or Fujiwara clan.

Uryuu is very tempted to pull out his IDs and hand them to her, but settles with a instead quiet "yes."

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	6. Chapter 6

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ix.

"In the tale, the War General fought 13 adversaries to get to the Lady, there were bridges and a walled citadel and big birds and a hill. Is this...I mean, are all these - true?" Orihime, wide-eyed and curious, asks Uryuu one day.

Uryuu and Orihime chance upon each other again on an idle Saturday morning, under a lampost. If it's not too much of a bother, she asked him - they're walking on the same road anyway - if she could walk with him, because it would be nice to have company. Uryuu agreed.

But they are not heading the same location. Uryuu goes to have his thread replaced and lecture a sewing store about false advertisement - something about the threads not being too micro-thin as it bombastically advertised - and Orihime is on her way home from paying her bills and returning some books.

Uryuu has a faster pace, but she has no problem levelling with him. Still, he considers and slows down a bit. It must be, that guys from big clans are always busy, and in a hurry.

"Well?" Orihime is bright and expectant as always, and terribly, terribly enthusiastic.

Uryuu, surprised at any academic person who'd actually believe the far-off fairy tale version - the less plausible out of all the variations, considers her question for a moment, "...no."

"Oh?" Her expression visibly falls. She looks ahead then above, it's a cloudy day, but nonetheless, blue outlines the sky, "oh."

"It's much more subdued than that," Uryuu amends after a moment, "more real, less imagined," then, "kind of boring, actually."

"Not 13 adversaries, some sided with him, you know. But he was stubborn."

"But there as a walled citadel," he tells her thoughtfully, "...yes, that part is true."

They pass an electronic store, game consoles and AI-powered vacuum cleaner prototypes on display and flat TVs on sale and all. There's a feature exploring the Lady and The War General on a display TV. Orihime couldn't clearly hear what the host is saying, but she caught glimpse of a handsome European-styled white estate with 'Ishida family' written on caption, and then it changes to a shot of a forest and ocean shoreline - some far off Hokkaido - with a question mark for a caption.

Although the Ishida clan has provided the pertinent details, the records have not been enough to confirm what truly became of the Lady and the War General, that part of the story has never been passed down, if they ever knew.

"They are interesting, aren't they?" Orihime tells him when they make a stop, along with some half-dozen teenagers, to watch the feature and the host as he lists university archeologists, academicians, and historians teaming to dig, reconfirm and piece artifacts and locations.

"You think so?"

"You don't think so?" Orihime is quick to note the dismissal in his voice. She turns to him expectantly.

"That…" Uryuu hesitates. He puts his hands on his pocket. They - his father.

"Well that's okay, you've grown up knowing about it, you're probably all sorts of tired hearing about them all the time," Orihime laughs a little, then gestures to the TV host.

"Orihime-san, well, I'm sorry-"

"Oh no! Please don't, Uryuu-kun. It's okay, really."

"My family came to resent that period," Uryuu explains, "the clan heir that time was more keen on serving another clan. His loyalty to the family was questioned, of course. He lost his hand, too, there's none much use for an archer without a hand."

"Oh?"

Orihime thinks of long lines and family and honor. Ishida is an old family, well-known and taught in schools - she has rudimentary knowledge of their celebrated leaders, but not the disgraced ones.

"May I know who?" she asks.

Uryuu is quiet for a long time. Ahead them, the stoplight turns green and they begin walking.

"A namesake," Uryuu tells her when they reach the other side of the road.

"A namesake…" echoes Orihime, nodding.

They come to a stop, the road ends here for them, and they part ways quietly as Uryuu nods at Orihime's full-arms cheery waving. He watches until she disappears to a corner and then he's off to berate the sewing store manager and she to her apartment neighborhood.

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x.

It is easy to imagine how they came to be as a couple, the Lady and the War General: a fair lady and a strong man, enemies - how tragic but beloved. Enemies, maybe - they have such hate for each other when they first met, then attraction, some form of mutual respect, then friendship (he could be venturing out to her at this point) then it turns to something romantic - that must have been it, Orihime muses.

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	7. Chapter 7

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The Western stories - they always begin with happily ever after. Orihime, with all the earnestness of her youth and heart, likes the idea of western fairy tales more, not much in evil witches and enchanted castles and white horses, but in the nature of the interim itself: melodramatic and beautiful, sad and silly, against all odds but triumphant.

Romance stories, equally, are arduous and tortuous, but they loop back to sunsets and beaches and wedding bells. Orihime cries watching them, she cries because the journey has been _so, so long,_ but they end happily nonetheless - how everything must be.

(how everything must be)

Orihime used to marvel at how wonderful those stories are, she tells Uryuu-kun one time while taking standing lunch on a ramen stall one chilly winter morning. She tells him - he who smiles patiently because he understands a girl's heart - how she used to think that good things must come to people who believe, if they wait, if they remain enduring, and hopeful, and positive.

"And now?" he asks.

Orihime tilts her head his way, her chopsticks frozen mid-way. Some pink tinges her cheeks; she has not been expecting that, "I...well, I probably still do," she admits with a small smile then bows her head, more apologetic of her insistence of naivety and the inability to shake it off fully.

Once upon a time, she did pine for the same boy for years and years and years and did hope everyday.

Uryuu-kun's expression is a kind one, and encouraging, and patient, and it cheers Orihime up a bit. So she laughs, "but with reservations, Uryuu-kun! I've grown up a bit, I know the world is not painted in rainbows - but wouldn't that be funny? what would I do if - if such feelings are gone. I like to believe in positivity. These stories, well, these stories are good because they show that good things come to people who wait, you know? Happy endings and against all odds and waiting. It gives people hope, because - I don't know - is hopelessness any better?"

But the sky is bigger outside her high school classroom, and the world is so very large when she steps foot on it.

"Ahh," Uryuu begins, in understanding. The broken egg yolk is starting to seep on his chili ramen, he picks up his chopsticks and begins mixing the broth and egg. He feels a little more pensive.

He doesn't agree with her, it's entirely passive. Direct effort should be given proportionate to the importance of the object desired - is what justifies an object's value. There is simply no 'good things must come to people who wait'; such positivity is not an Ishida manifesto, neither is against all odds - _only if fought and won,_ and happy endings - _only if earned_.

Still, the sky shines everyday, welcoming blue and white, there must still be good things worth hoping for, so Uryuu replies kindly, "perhaps, Orihime-san."

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like many, i am staying at home and managing my team remotely. i crossed-off items in the zoom/google meet bingo and i probably have a 400% increase in slack usage - while this was funny, i miss my normal lifestyle.

i hope everyone is ok.


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